The council claims that the policy is being discussed due to instructions made by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), but the organisation has denied forcing the council into the move.
Under the rules, residents will be asked to place their bins at collection points nearer to the kerbside, in order to reduce the risk of ‘repetitive strain injuries’ to refuse workers who presently have to wheel bins ‘quite a distance’ down driveways.
The proposals have provoked some backlash in the area – with some arguing that they are unfair on older residents, particularly when weather conditions might make driveways slippery.
A decision on the issue has already been ratified by the council’s policy committee and will be subject to final approval on October 7. If approved, a roll out of the new system will follow with the changes expected to be fully implemented by March 2015.
Responsibility
When contacted by letsrecycle.com, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) denied responsibility for the ruling – arguing it had only ‘recommended’ the policy based on the council’s own risk assessment.
But, explaining the proposals to residents, Craven district council said it had to ‘comply’ with instructions issued by HSE – while one opposition councillor feared the organisation would come down on them ‘like a tonne of bricks’.
Councillor Carl Lis, the lead member for Greener Craven, said that assistance would be ‘available for those who need it’ and stressed other councils in the region have done the same ‘for a long time’.
He said: “The council must comply with the HSE’s instructions for bin collections, in the same way that all the other councils in North Yorkshire have been doing for a long time. We are however committed to working with residents to identify the most sympathetic solution to differing sets of circumstances.”
‘Dangerous’
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Lib Dem councillor Paul English said: “Most people will put their bins at the bottom of their driveways, but we live in quite a rural area and there are some parts the wagons can’t get up. Now they’re saying it’s too dangerous for a fully trained professional whose job it is to walk up these drives, but not a 75-year-old who has no option but to take it down themselves.”
He added: “If HSE makes a recommendation, if something happens and we don’t follow the recommendation, they [HSE] will come down on us like a tonne of bricks.”
An estimated 2,500 households in the district could be affected by the ruling – including terraced properties with rear alleys that are too narrow for waste trucks to pass through. Craven’s waste collection crews each collect up to 1,000 bins per day.
Meanwhile, anyone who is physically unable to move their bins will be eligible for assistance under the council’s existing ‘Assist Scheme’.
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